


On The Roof

by okemmelie



Category: Black Friday - Team StarKid, The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:34:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26777437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/okemmelie/pseuds/okemmelie
Summary: After high school, Emma decides to live in a shitty apartment to get away from her parents for a bit before she finally leaves the horrible excuse for a town that is Hatchetfield. It's all but a pleasant surprise when she finds out Becky Barnes, the most annoying person from her high school, lives in the very same apartment building
Relationships: Becky Barnes/Emma Perkins
Comments: 61
Kudos: 27





	1. The Cheer Captain and The Family Disappointment

**Author's Note:**

> in this essay, neither becky nor emma have the braincells to just ask each other if they listen to girl in red

The early October air is cool but not anywhere near cold enough to keep Emma inside. She’s not quite ready to smoke out her window yet and sitting on the roof of her apartment building, looking out over the water and the lights of Clyvesdale in the distance, is a little bit more entertaining than sitting in her apartment, doing nothing.

Still, she supposes it doesn’t make the biggest difference. Here, there, it’s all the same. That sense of hopelessness follows her wherever she goes. At least it’s not as bad as when she’s at work, senselessly serving coffee to jerks and boring business people alike. She wants to travel, wants to see the world. But she’s stuck. Of course she’s stuck. It’s Hatchetfield. Getting out of here is an uphill battle.

Maybe she should follow her fleeting dream and go travelling. It’s not too late. She’s only a few months out of high school and she could probably move out of her crappy apartment, pack a backpack and travel wherever the road will let her. That’s not really traveling, but it’s close enough. She could also just wait a bit. Save up some more money and get out of the country. That’d be fun, should it ever happen.

She takes another drag of her cigarette and turns her head as she hears someone crawl up the stairs to the roof. It’s a familiar face framed in familiar red hair. Becky Barnes. That’s just her luck.

“What are you doing here, cheer captain?” Emma asks with an amused and slightly annoyed smile on her lips.

None of them are in high school anymore, but apparently Becky didn’t get the memo. She’s wearing a varsity jacket (yikes!) that looks to be her boyfriend’s. Ex-boyfriend? Emma doesn’t know her life, neither does she care to. Becky’s annoying, she’s always been and Emma seriously doubts that’ll have changed over the few months they’ve spent out of the hell that is Hatchetfield High.

Of course, Becky isn’t as hostile as Emma feels. She smiles and there’s a kindness and warmth to it. It’s almost neausiating. “Oh, hi Emma!” She remembers her name. Shocking. “Uh, I live here. I assume you do too?”

For a moment, Emma considers lying. She could pretend she’s just visiting a friend and have just gone up on the roof for a quick cigarette. She sighs. “Yeah.”

“Cool.” Becky nods.

Then she doesn’t say anything for a while and Emma takes the opportunity to look back out over the skyline. She doesn’t look back at Becky as she speaks again. “I hated you in high school, you know?”

A soft chuckle comes from Becky’s direction. “Yeah. Yeah, I kind of figured.”

Becky doesn’t seem to mind that Emma hated her and somehow, it helps her warm up to her a bit. Not a lot. It’s not like a small thing like this can erase four years of annoyance. But it’s a start.

They stay on the roof together for a while, talking about life and the future. Becky doesn’t seem to know what she wants yet. “Maybe I’ll travel for a bit. Europe sounds exciting,” she says. And Emma tells her that she isn’t sure about the future either in return.

It’s a nice conversation, a nice bonding experience. Then Emma decides to ruin it. “So what’s the deal with the jacket? Why are you still running around, looking like a high schooler?”

“Well, it’s Tom’s. My boyfri– well. Uh. My Tom’s. I want to wait for him.”

“Wait for him?”

“Yeah, he’s– he shipped out.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. That’s kind of why I’m hesitant about the whole traveling thing. What if I fall in love with somewhere? What if I’m not here when he comes back?”

Emma shrugs. How the fuck is she supposed to have the answers? “I don’t know. I also don’t know why you’d pause your life for him. If you two are meant to be or whatever, you’ll figure it out when he comes back.”

There’s a small smile on Becky’s lips but Emma can’t quite read it. “I… don’t know why either, actually.”

Instead of letting her sit in her thoughts, Emma lights another cigarette and hands it to Becky. To Emma’s surprise, she accepts it. The rest of their time together on the roof is spent in relative silence, but it isn’t anywhere near as uncomfortable as Emma was sure it’d be.


	2. The Neon Lights of Forgiveness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shout out to wtnv for making naming things just. slightly easier

It’s not too glamorous, being awake late at night. She supposes she’s never claimed to be glamorous, but she certainly is awake. She’s watched to hours go by, one am becoming three am in the blink of an eye (that’s a lie, it feels like it’s been seven years at least) and she’s tired. Not physically, obviously, but she’s tired of waiting around for a sleep that might never find her.

The sigh that escapes her lips is not one of relief, but rather of contempt. It tastes like giving up, both the sigh and the feeling that washes over her body, but so many things do these days. It’s not unusual, but that still doesn’t make the taste it leaves in her mouth any better.

She gets up, gets dressed and ignores it. That’s all she can do.

Nothing is more boring than the streets of Hatchetfield during the day. That’s what Emma grew up believing, anyway. But as she’s grown older, she’s realized that it’s not quite true. They’re much more boring during the night, with no lights and no people and no reason whatsoever to roam – and yet, she roams.

Off in the distance, her eyes catch bright neon lights illuminating the otherwise abandoned streets of her hometown, reflecting off a sad-looking puddle. It’s the puddle, not the rain, that makes Emma realize that it is, in fact, raining. It’s one of those days, huh?

Sunshine All-Night Diner isn’t exactly a place Emma frequents. The yellow decor and the bright, meaningless smiles plastered onto every single employee’s face never really spoke to her. She supposes it makes sense how she could have forgotten about this place, forgotten that it’s open all 24 hours of the day despite the name obviously stating their hours, considering how few fucks she gives about it. She opens the door.

A bell above her head rings as she steps through the door and she watches as the red headed waitress puts down her phone and perks up, smiling now that there’s finally a single customer around. “Hi sweetheart, welcome to the Sunshine All-Night Diner, what can I get you?” It’s Becky. Of course it’s fucking Becky.

Just then, she realizes that she actually never thought this far. She stepped in here to get away from the rain, to have  _ something _ to do, not to buy anything. But it’s a business. She should have thought ahead. “I don’t know, a coffee?” She says, then follows Becky’s eyes with her own. She’s met with the sight of a sad pot of black coffee. It doesn’t look hot, nor does it look inviting. “Actually nevermind.”

“I don’t blame you,” Becky says. When Emma once again meets her gaze, she gives a sweet smile. It looks way more sincere than the smile she was met with when she stepped in. It’s comforting. Kind of.

Emma takes a look around and quickly concludes that the interior of this place hasn’t changed much since she was last in here, many years ago. Maybe the furniture’s been updated to another shade of yellow, but she wouldn’t know for sure. It doesn’t matter, anyway. She looks back at Becky. “So this is what you’re doing with your life?” There’s a bit of meanness in her voice, a bit of superiority. The Great Becky Barnes, wasting her life working in a sad, soulless diner. Younger Emma would get a kick out of that.

The Great Becky Barnes chuckles, her smile not quite reaching her eyes this time. “Yeah. It is. I might as well make some money while I figure out what to do next,” she says. It’s a good point, a good strategy. Emma ignores that. “What about you? What are you doing with your life anyway?”

Now it’s Emma’s turn to chuckle. She doesn’t smile, doesn’t even pretend to, because her chuckle is fuelled by nothing but bitterness. Not hatred, just bitterness. That’s gotta count for something. “That’s none of your concern.” She works at Beanie’s, a shitty coffee shop with shitty employees and an even shittier boss. She’s always surprised that it’s still in business, especially considering there’s a Starbucks just across the street. “How does it feel to have peaked in high school? To know that it’s only downhill from here?”

Emma’s certain she’s striked at a weak point, because Becky's gaze and smile drops completely. Then she shrugs and looks back up at Emma. “I don’t know. I guess I don’t really think about it?” God, why is she so nice about everything Emma throws her way? “When do you think you’ll peak?”

Now it’s Emma’s turn to shrug. “I don’t know,” she says and pretends to not know that the real answer is probably closer to never.

“Hang on,” Becky tells her and before Emma knows it, she’s gone. She pops up not long after and hands Emma a small plate with a chocolate cupcake on it. “I’m sorry for what I did to make you dislike me in high school. I know a cupcake won’t fix things, but it can be a step in the right direction, I hope.”

Emma doesn’t have the heart to tell her that what she did was nothing, that she just hates her for no good reason, because she’s better than her in every way and because she’s always kind about it. She bites into the cupcake instead and Becky lets her eat it in silence.

They smalltalk a bit more and manage to fill out the remaining hour before Becky’s shift ends with things that aren’t spiteful jabs at each other (though admittedly, most of those came from Emma’s side). It’s… honestly kind of nice. Becky’s good conversation, whether she likes it or not.

It’s no longer raining when they step back out into the streets of Hatchetfield, which is nice. Becky only has Tom’s varsity jacket and Emma didn’t bring a jacket at all (a stupid move in October, but alas). The streets are still empty, save for a single drunk dude they pass – he seems to be heading towards the diner, and their eyes meet in a look that Emma’s certain means  _ ‘thank fuck we got out of there before he made it’. _

Emma’s the one who breaks the silence of their very early morning stroll home. “For what it’s worth… I’m sorry too. I’ve been very harsh on you and I’m sorry.”

Another smile appears on Becky’s lips. It’s subtle, but it looks real. “It’s alright. I forgive you.”

“I forgive you too.”

It’s nice. It feels nice. The silence between them as they walk the rest of the way home feels nice and Emma’s happy about it. Hate is a strong feeling to let go of, but she’s done it. At least it feels that way.

They’re almost home when Emma feels Becky’s hand brush against her’s. She pulls her hand back very fast and when she looks at Becky, she realizes that they’ve done the exact same thing. And after a few moments of looking at each other, Emma is sure Becky must have realized too, because she breaks into laughter.

It’s funny, really. Emma always thought she hated Becky’s laugh. But now, as she’s joining in on laughing, she realizes that she doesn’t. It’s honestly a quite pleasant sound.


	3. At Least We Didn't Almost Hold Hands

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> she's even wearing a flannel, take the hint becky

They’ve been getting along quite nicely the last couple of days (well, weeks but only like two of them), so it doesn’t surprise Emma when there’s a knock on her door late one evening and the person on the other side is no other than Becky Barnes herself, smiling brightly.

A month ago, she probably would have closed the door right in Becky’s face. Instead she smiles back. “Barnes. How might I help you?”

Becky laughs. “I was wondering if you’d like to accompany me for a walk on this fine evening.”

There’s nothing but silence from Emma’s side for a moment as she raises an eyebrow and gives Becky a good look-over. “Hm. Let me just see if I can fit that into my tight schedule,” Emma says before looking down on her empty wrist. “Oh, would you look at that? I’m available for the rest of the night and I’d love to go on that evening stroll you’re talking about.”

The smile that forms on Becky’s lips looks quite lovely and it makes Emma smile as well. She puts a jacket over her flannel (it is a late October evening, after all) and the two of them head down the stairs and out into the boring streets of Hatchetfield.

Becky isn’t wearing Tom’s jacket, she notes. That’s a positive. At least she thinks it is. Ultimately, she decides not to bring it up, not right now anyway.

Their first stop is in front of a sign pointing towards the bridge. “There’s a pumpkin patch. In Clyvesdale. Doesn’t that sound fun?”

Emma shrugs. “The pumpkin patch? Not particularly, no. But carving pumpkins? I’m all for that. If you’d like, we can catch a bus next week and go get some pumpkins of our own. Maybe even carve them together, if you want. It might be fun.”

“I’d love that.”

“Great. It’s a deal!”

They shake hands on it before continuing on their evening stroll. It doesn’t seem that any of them have any idea where they’re going, but they do talk and that’s nice. It’s mostly small talk, nothing too deep, and that’s fine. Emma doesn’t mind.

Eventually, they find themselves standing on the edge between the grass and the sand. The water looks so endless in the middle of the night (well, evening; whatever), but it looks peaceful as well. They look at each other and it’s like the silence is enough of confirmation of what they’re doing to the both of them, because they head towards the water together.

The sand is not warm and welcoming, it’s cold and wet and slightly (very) uncomfortable, but they sit down in it anyway. The sound of small waves hitting the sand is worth it though, at least to Emma.

“I’ve been thinking about something… for a while, actually.” Becky sighs before turning her gaze away from the lake and towards Emma. “About Tom. I’ve been thinking about Tom and about me and about– I don’t know. All of it?”

“Oh?”

Becky nods. “I think I’m ready to give up. Give up waiting, I mean. If by the time he returns I’m still single and he’s still single and the spark is still there, then sure, we can get back together and things can go back to being the same as before… or at least something similar, you know?”

Now it’s Emma’s turn to nod. Not because she fully follows, but she gets the general idea and that should be good enough.

“It’s like you said. Why would I pause my life for him?”

So this is Emma’s fault. Funny how everything, in the end, is Emma’s fault. “So I guess that’s why you’re not wearing his jacket then?”

“Yeah… figured it maybe wasn’t the best look, nor the best way to really let it go. I mean, I still have it, it’s just tugged away in my storage room rather than on display right at my entrance.”

This time, Emma nods more confidently because she’s sure she’s following. “Aren’t you cold? I mean, not from the whole Tom thing, I don’t mean it to sound like that at all, I–” she cuts herself off before she can say anything stupid. “I just noticed you weren’t a jacket at all which is why I’m asking.”

It makes Becky laugh so maybe it wouldn’t have mattered, had she said something stupid. “Yeah, but–”

Emma doesn’t let her finish. She takes off her jacket and drapes it over Becky’s shoulders. “There you go,” she says and smiles. She’s wearing a flannel and it’s not like it’s criminally cold. She’ll be fine.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

It’s hard to see in the late evening, early night hours, but Emma’s fairly confident Becky’s blushing. She doesn’t say anything about it, though. She also doesn’t say anything when Becky takes her hand as they walk home.


	4. High School Musical Saves the Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one day i'll stop putting paul in my fics but........ today is not that day

Their pumpkins aren’t exactly beautiful, but they’ve picked them out and made it all the way home safe, so Emma considers them an overall success.

“Can’t wait for a and a half week from now where I’ll have to throw this guy out,” Emma says as she gives her pumpkin a little pat. Maybe it’ll last longer. They haven’t exactly carved them yet, so there’s a chance it’ll last two weeks instead.

Becky shrugs. “That’s just the way, innit?” She picks up her pumpkin and the two of them leave Emma’s apartment. “How do you feel about costumes?”

The two of them start ascending the stairs. “I’m costume neutral. Why?”

“Well,” Becky starts as they reach her floor. “It’s just that some of my high school friends are throwing a party. A Halloween party but not on Halloween, which personally I find kind of stupid. I mean, Halloween falls on a Saturday this year. Why not grab the opportunity and throw a party there?”

“I don’t know.”

“Me neither, me neither.” Becky sighs. She unlocks her door and once they’re in, she puts her pumpkin on her kitchen table. “Anyway, my… friends are kind of pushy about it being a plus one event and, well… Tom’s not exactly here, we’re not exactly together anymore. I’m afraid it’s going to turn into an  _ ‘oh, head cheerleader Becky Barnes doesn’t have a date, look at how lonely she is’ _ kind of event.”

“I’m sure they wouldn’t do so–” Emma cuts herself off. She’s met these  _ friends,  _ the popular girls at Hatchetfield High, and she realizes that she never liked them. No matter how much she’s grown to like Becky, she can’t bring herself to trust people like her to not be mean-spirited like that. “Actually, never mind.”

Becky nods. “Yeah, it’s uhh… a situation.”

“You want me to be your plus one?”

“Yes please.”

Emma never liked high school parties. Primarily she didn’t like them because she wasn’t invited to them very often if at all. She wasn’t bitter about it, of course not. High school wasn’t something she looked back on with fond memories, Hatchetfield was a town she despised (and still does), so why should she care about parties filled with people she didn’t like who she was going to leave behind soon anyway?

But she’d grown to care about Becky, so here she is. Getting a drink from a table with other people’s alcohol, alone because Becky ran off with her cheerleader friends and Emma remembered why she always found her annoying.

What is she supposed to do at a party filled with just-graduated high schoolers she hates, high schoolers who still haven’t left town and likely never will? It’s her own personal hell.

But at least she spots a familiar face.

“Paul?” It’s not to call out her ex-boyfriend or anything, but at a party for people who were someone in high school is the last place she’d expect to see him.

He’s hidden in a corner with a drink, sure, but it’s still him. “Emma?” At least he looks as surprised to see her here as she does him. That’s friendship. “What are you doing here?”

Not wanting to admit to being here with Becky Barnes of all people (Paul’s heard her complain about her so much back when they dated that she doesn’t think she can take it, should he find out they’re kind of friends now), she decides to throw the question back at him. “I was just about to ask you the same thing. Funny how that is. What  _ are  _ you doing here?”

Paul doesn’t even have to answer the question on his own. Former class president, Ted, drunkenly steps towards them with a big smile on his lips. Paul excuses himself for a second to go… kiss Ted?

“What the fuck, dude?” Emma asks once Ted’s back in the crowd and Paul is back in their corner.

He laughs, that awkward little laugh she knows so well. “Uh, you see, Ted and I… we kind of started dating?”

“Oh.” Now suddenly her thing doesn’t seem as embarrassing. At least she’s not going out with  _ Ted.  _ “I’m here with Becky.”

“Wait.” Oh no. “Becky Barnes? I thought you hated her.”

“Yeah, but–”

Emma is cut off by Becky Barnes herself. “Emma! I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”

Oh. That’s kind of sweet. “Well, I’m right here. Are you okay?”

Becky nods. “Yes, of course. I just  _ really  _ want to dance. Do you want to dance?”

“No.” Emma softens the rejection with a laugh. “I don’t dance.”

“I know you can.”

“Don’t you quote High School Musical to my face, Barnes.”

“Alright, alright. But you have to come dance with me. Please?”

Emma’s serious. She doesn’t dance. But the puppy dog eyes Becky’s sending her  _ are  _ quite convincing, so she relents. “Fine. We can dance. But only one song, okay?”

Becky nods and grabs Emma’s hand. The two of them make their way towards the dance floor. The song is not one Emma recognizes and she wasn’t lying when she said, she doesn’t dance. She’s really bad at it. Luckily, Becky leads well and although Emma will never admit it, she ends up having fun.

So she stays for another song. This one’s much slower and they end up dancing a bit closer together. Towards the end of the song, Emma feels Becky’s fingers under her chin. She lifts Emma’s head up and Emma lets her, because she really doesn’t mind looking at Becky. She’s very pretty and v–

Emma’s thoughts stop completely, because Becky Barnes is kissing her. She doesn’t even have time to think before she instinctively kisses her back. And it’s nice. Becky’s lips taste like sugary alcohol and Emma finds herself wondering why they haven’t kissed earlier.

Of course, all good things must come to an end. Their kiss comes to an end not because of them, but because someone decides to cheer at them. Not just someone. Fucking  _ Ted  _ of all people.

But Becky looks at her, smiling and blushing slightly, and Emma’s sure Becky sees the exact same thing on her face. Does she kiss her again?

Before Emma can make her mind up, a group of cheerleaders grab Becky’s attention and she gives Emma a quick  _ later  _ before disappearing into the crowd.

Ted holds up his hand for a high five, but Emma pushes right past him. He calls out after her; apparently it’s rude not to return a high five, she doesn’t care. Not when it comes to Ted.

“Your boyfriend is annoying,” Emma tells Paul once she returns to their corner.

Paul just looks at her for a while with a raised eyebrow. “You kissed Becky Barnes.”

“Shut up.”


	5. Carving Around the Question

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in this character, maybe one of them thinks about talking about things but i will neither confirm nor deny

It’s two days after the party and Emma hasn’t been able to get Becky out of her head. She’s at work, she thinks about Becky. She walks home, she thinks about Becky. She makes dinner, she thinks about Becky. She desperately tries to fall asleep, she thinks about Becky. It’s the perfect mixture of annoying and nice.

But today is the day. The day they’re hanging out again, the day they finally carve their pumpkins.

Now, obviously Emma doesn’t plan on telling Becky about how she’s been living rent free in her head at all hours of the day. She doesn’t even plan on bringing up the kiss. She’s more of the ‘putting all her feelings in a box and shoving them in the back of her closet to hopefully never have to open them again’-type of gal.

And hey, it’s worked so far! There’s never been a fault in her plan and up ‘til now it’s been working for her, so there’s no reason to rethink it. She confidently picks up her pumpkin and makes her way up the stairs to confidently knock on Becky’s door and confidently carve some pumpkins and confidently not bring up her feelings in any way, shape or form. Confidently.

After just a few moments, Becky opens the door. She smiles at the sight of Emma. “Hi! Come in,” she insists and so, Emma does. Becky shows her to the kitchen where her pumpkin already stands ready on the counter. “You ready? Personally, I’ve been super excited ever since we picked them up, so I’m very ready.”

“Of course I’m ready. In fact, I was  _ born  _ ready,” she says and offers Becky a wink. “So where are we doing this?”’

Becky gestures to her kitchen. “Carpet and pumpkin guts don't mix well, so I figured we’d take care of it here.”

It’s a good point and Emma doesn’t have much to say to it. “Alright then. Shall we get started?”

And they do get started. They hollow out the pumpkins together and Emma makes a playful comment about how the pumpkin guts kind of looks like Becky’s hair which earns her a head shake with a scrunched nose from Becky.

Once they’re carved, Becky gently slaps the side of hers. “We should carve these facing each other. You know, so we don’t see what the other is doing before it’s finished. It’ll be a nice little surprise.”

“Sure,” Emma says with a smile. It’s not that she has big plans for hers, she rarely ever has big plans for anything but if it’ll make Becky happy (or even if it won’t but it’s just what Becky wants), she’s more than willing for it to be what they do. “How long do we have?”

Becky shrugs. “However long we need. I’m not about to put a timer on art.”

Again, Emma has no complaints. They both get seated on top of her kitchen counter and start carving their pumpkins.

Emma very quickly realizes that she didn’t have a plan going into this. Then again, she barely has a plan so it’s probably fine, but still. It maybe would have been nice. Two pumpkins from her, Becky sits deeply concentrated on whatever she’s carving her pumpkin out to be and Emma can just make out the tip of her tongue sticking out in the corner of her lips. It’s unfairly cute. Becky’s unfairly cute.

Luckily, Becky’s pumpkin seems to take a long time so Emma has a lot of time to figure out what she wants to do; and what she wants to do is make a classic jack-o-lantern, one of those with triangles for eyes, a smaller triangle for a nose and sharp teeth.

Eventually Becky also finishes carving her. The two of them jump down from the counter and get ready to turn their pumpkins at the same time. Emma’s isn’t a surprise to her, she made it after all, but Becky’s is. It’s a rather beautiful carving of a Jason mask.

“I didn’t know you liked Friday the 13th,” Emma says.

Becky laughs. It doesn’t sound condescending, it’s more of a pleasantly surprised kind of laugh. “Well, maybe you shouldn’t assume you know everything about me.” There’s a warm smile on her lips and Emma trusts that means she’s in the clear.

They make their way up on the roof and light their jack-o-lanterns. They’re really pretty in the dark (well, Becky’s is anyway; Emma’s is just alright).

“Wait, okay. I need you to do something for me,” Becky says.

“Oh?”

“I need you to look in this direction,” she points out towards the town, away from the door back into the apartment building. “And keep looking until I return. Can you do that?”

She can, so she tells Becky that and lets Becky walk off while looking in the direction she was told. Hatchetfield really never changes, huh? Not too long after, she hears the door open again. Becky puts something down, so Emma starts to turn her body.

“Close your eyes.”

“You said I could look back when you returned.”

“Well, you can turn around. You just can’t look yet.”

Emma rolls her eyes before closing them. “Fine,” she says while turning around.

Not long after, Becky tells her she can open her eyes. It’s nothing spectacular; just two mugs of hot chocolate with marshmallows in them and a few lit candles. But it’s really nice and really cozy, so Emma’s not about to complain.

The two of them spend the rest of the night up on the roof, drinking hot chocolate and chatting in the candlelight. None of them bring up the kiss, but Emma does find herself still unable to get it out of her head.


	6. Smoking Cigarettes (On The Roof)

She tries to make plans with Paul on Halloween. They usually watch horror movies together and Emma listens to him ramble about behind the scenes stuff, and they’ve been doing it for so many years that she assumed it was a given that they’d do it again this year. But Paul has a boyfriend and Ted’s taking him to a haunted house attraction in Clivesdale, so no horror movies for Emma this year.

Instead, Emma gets texts updating her that Paul regrets going and wishes he was home watching horror movies with her. Unsurprisingly, to her at least, haunted houses aren’t really his thing.

The apartment next to hers is having a party and that’s fine, she doesn’t mind. She knows she can be loud sometimes when she’s listening to music or having guests over, so it’s fine. They warned her and it  _ is  _ Halloween.

But there’s only so many times you can listen to Monster Mash playing on repeat from the apartment next to yours before going crazy. Emma puts on her warmest jacket and grabs a pack of cigarettes before heading up for the roof. It’s a nice spot to catch a break and a break is exactly what she needs.

As soon as she gets up there, she notices that the roof isn’t empty. She was hoping it would be, but it’s whatever. It’s Becky Barnes and that’s alright. Of all the people in her apartment complex, Becky is the one she wants to share the roof with the most.

“Hi,” Becky says and greets her with a smile. “What are you doing up here?”

Emma smiles back, then goes sit down next to her. “Hey. Neighbor’s been playing Monster Mash for the last hour, so I decided to make a run for it. What about you?”

Becky shrugs. “I like the view. Thought it’d be nice up here.”

For quite a while, they just sit together in the darkness, enjoying the view and each other’s company in comfortable silence. When Emma gets out a cigarette, Becky looks at her with a slightly raised eyebrow and a look that says  _ ‘Can I have one too?’  _ and the answer is yes, so Emma lights the one in her hands and hands it to Becky before grabbing one for herself.

She still hates Hatchetfield and she still hates that the view in the night is so pretty, but despite how pretty it is, she finds her eyes wandering. To Becky. And when she looks, she notices that Becky is looking back, a soft look on her face and the shadow of a smile resting on her lips.

Emma doesn’t know how it happens. It’s not something they communicate and yet, slowly but surely, they start moving closer and closer together. At first it’s not much, just the brush of their hands against each others’, but eventually Emma finds herself glancing down at Becky’s lips that are alarmingly close to hers. She can feel her hot breath on her lips. It smells like peppermint and Emma decides right then and there that she likes that.

They catch each other’s eyes for a second, then Becky glances down at Emma’s lips. A small nod of her head and raise of her eyebrows makes it clear to Emma that even though she’s not saying it out loud, she’s asking if she can kiss her. And to that, Emma can only nod.

It’s not their first kiss, but it’s their first sober one and as far as Emma’s concerned, it’s a much better one. Becky’s hands are in her hair and she manages to place a hand on Becky’s waist. She wouldn’t say they fell in love in October, but Emma certainly  _ fell  _ for Becky and she decides that’s close enough. Good enough. Perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, thank you so much for reading!!!!! im here to say two things: 1) happy halloween, 2) barkins rights! hit me up on tumblr @krayonders


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